Bu Zhe Teng

“Bu Zhe Teng” is a slogan (buzzword?) proposed recently by the Communist Party leader, Hu Jintao. In Chinese, it is usually used in Beijing dialect (yes, Beijing dialect is different than Mandrin, even they share most of the vocabularies)

There are some translations for this weird word. For instance, here are some from Xinhua News:

Do not toss
No dithering
Do not flip flop
Don’t mess around
Do not sway back and forth
Do not bugger about pointlessly
Do not do much ado about nothing
Do not do something over and over again, and to little effect

I guess you get the idea.

Well, I just want to say a very “Zhe Teng” (Bu in Chinese means no) thing I encounted recently.

I was planning a trip to China with my girlfriend this summer. She is American, so she needs a visa. Here is the policy for Americans [1].

Ⅱ.How to apply1.You may submit the application to the Visa Office of the Embassy or Consulate -General which holds consular jurisdiction over the state where you reside; 2.If you cannot come in person, you may entrust someone else or a travel/visa agent to drop off your application at the visa office of the Embassy or Consulate -General which holds consular jurisdiction over the state where you reside;▲No appointment is required.▲Mailed applications are not acceptable and will be returned.▲Mail back service is available (make sure you read INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLICATION MAIL SERVICE).

And the obnoxious table [2]:

Ⅳ.Visa fees1.Please pay by Visa, MasterCard, Money Order, Cashier’s Check, Company Check or Cash.Personal checks are not acceptable. 2.Please make the check or money order payable to the Chinese Embassy or Chinese Consulate-General. 3.Fee list:

Number of Entry

American

Citizens of other countries

Single Entry

$130

$30

Double Entry

$130

$45

Multiple Entry for 6 Months

$130

$60

Multiple Entry for 12 Months

$130

$90

Multiple Entry for 24 Months

$130

$90

My girlfriend was really frustrated because for her, she never has to go to the embassy to get the visa. She has been to several countries, and China is the only one that needs “in person” visa application. Also, she asked me, were there any differences between U.S. citizens and the citizens of other countries? Why American needed to pay $130 and they only needed to pay $30 for a single entry?

I told my girlfriend that China does not welcome you, and she told me that “your government is messing around”. What an excellent translation of “Bu Zhe Teng”!

> US charges us $131 for visa, then we charge $130.
1. Evidence?
2. Visa fee is, and should be, based on the labor cost, not the “agreement”. It is not international trading, nor a place to show “tit for tat”.

> US need interview and fingerprint for security, and we chinese are nicer and China is safer than US, so we only need interview.

This is the policy from the department of homeland security. Please note that DHS and Department of States are two different federal agencies. We should blame the DHS, not the visa officer.